FERGUS – Ever since the new Groves Memorial Community Hospital opened at the new site in Aboyne last year, the burning question has been what will happen to the old hospital site in Fergus? Now there are some answers.
The hospital corporation and the Township of Centre Wellington have signed a memorandum of understanding to divide the former hospital lands.
According to the agreement, the hospital corporation will retain the former hospital building and parking lot, while the township will keep the old medical building and the Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Service building, both located on Queen Street across the road from the rear of the old hospital.
Groves president and CEO Stephen Street said the pandemic has put a wrench in the works.
“We put in a number of proposals to the Ministry (of Health) pre-COVID for services we could offer, and the system needs, but that has changed,” he said in an interview on June 29.
“We don’t have a line of sight post-COVID.”
Right now, the former hospital is being used as a COVID-19 assessment site and the ministry is continuing to fund maintenance and basic operations.
The old Groves hospital site will remain with the Groves hospital corporation while Centre Wellington Township will take over the medical office across the road. The hospital and township signed a memorandum of agreement to transfer ownership of the lands. Photo by Olivia Rumbell
Street wasn’t certain of that amount but estimated it costs less than $1 million a year to keep the lights on, elevators running and medical equipment in good repair.
“Once COVID drops, the health system will need to adjust,” he said.
“The new Groves will be the primary home for acute services; the old Groves will be used for non-acute services.”
Street noted the three hospitals in Wellington County recently joined the Guelph Wellington Ontario Health Team and there are opportunities to partner with other agencies to deliver a continuum of services at the site.
“We are in active discussion with the ministry,” Street said.
The former hospital site, now referred to by hospital officials as “Legacy Groves,” has a long history.
Dr. Abraham Groves gifted the hospital and lands to the village of Fergus in 1932. The Groves Act sets out that the land will be held by the township in trust for the hospital corporation for as long as the hospital corporation continues to operate as a public hospital.
Hospital and township officials have been in discussion for several years on how to disperse the lands once the hospital was relocated.
“All parties involved in these discussions acknowledge the huge benefits Dr. Groves has provided to the community with his land donation for medical purposes,” Groves hospital board chair Gilles Madore stated in a press release.
“We will continue to work with the ministry to transition the corporation out of the Groves Hospital Act and continue to explore potential future uses of the lands to deliver medical services and to continue to benefit the Groves Hospital corporation.”
The township will also retain the paramedics/ambulance station across the road on Queen Street. Photo by Olivia Rumbell
Centre Wellington CAO Andy Goldie said in a phone interview the township has a long-term lease with Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Services for the ambulance station and that will remain.
As for the medical office, Goldie said some staff will likely be temporarily located there until a new operations centre is constructed and the remainder of the office space could be leased.
“We will have to determine how much space we will need and how much we can lease,” he said.
At the Centre Wellington meeting on June 28, township council approved the agreement in a 5-2 vote, with councillors Bob Foster and Stephan Kitras opposed.
“Dr. Groves gave the land to the town to be used for a hospital. I am not in favour of transferring this gifted property,” Foster said.
“The hospital says it will use it for medical uses in the future, but nothing ensures that will happen. There should be a restrictive covenant.”
